CEASE and Desist
by DolbyDigital
Summary: An assistant counsel to the Minister of Magic said in a brief statement, "It is the belief of the Ministry that unions based on social status will be more successful and beneficial for our society as a whole." It is unclear how the public will react to such a bold move, but reports of civilian unrest have already surfaced.


**A/N** — NeonDomino has written this same law for Remus/Sirius, with references to this fic. Hers is called CEASE and Assist.

* * *

MINISTRY ANNOUNCES MARRIAGE LAW

 _In a startling announcement today, Ministry officials spoke of a newly passed Marriage Law, one that could affect all documented Pureblood citizens and some others. The Commission to End and Annul Serious Engagements, or CEASE, officially declares all recent or unapproved engagements null and void. This change comes into effect immediately, and those affected by this law will receive additional correspondence in the next two to three days._

 _An assistant counsel to the Minister of Magic said in a brief statement, "It is the belief of the Ministry that unions based on social status will be more successful and beneficial for our society as a whole." It is unclear how the public will react to such a bold move, but reports of civilian unrest have already surfaced._

.oOo.

"James, did you see this?" Lily asked, holding up that morning's issue of the Daily Prophet.

"Yeah," he said, not looking up from his breakfast.

"Well?" she asked. She waited expectantly for a moment before continuing. "Aren't you going to say something."

"What's to say? It's not going to affect us." He looked up then. "Lily, I know it sucks, but there's nothing we can do about it. And we certainly don't need to worry."

"Well–" she sighed "–if you're sure."

"Of course I am." He grinned. "When am I ever wrong?"

.oOo.

James opened the latch of the kitchen window, taking a moment to breath in the sea air. He'd miss this when they returned to Godric's Hollow. The owl jumped through the window, carrying the Daily Prophet. In times like these, they needed to keep up to date with the news, even if they _were_ on their honeymoon.

James left the window open — it was a sunny day, and he might as well let some fresh air into the kitchen — taking to Prophet and paying the owl. He had just pulled out a pan and some eggs — having decided to make Lily breakfast on the rare occasion that he was up before her — when another, much larger owl, landed on the counter.

It ruffled its feathers irritably, glaring at him until he untied the thick envelope from its leg. It left before he could give it anything, so a reply was clearly not expected.

The Ministry seal had him worried, and he really hoped he wasn't being called back to work early. He slid his thumb underneath, breaking the wax, and pulled out the thick sheets of parchment inside.

 _Dear witch or wizard,_

 _This is your official announcement regarding your Ministry-chosen match. Enclosed is an additional note carrying your match's name and age, as well as the date for your officiated marriage ceremony._

 _Thank you for your cooperation and compliance with this important civil law. We at the Ministry of Magic promise happier days ahead, now that the connections in society have been pruned of their ills and misfortunes._

 _Yours sincerely,_

 _Morticia Nox_

 _Head of Department of Marriage and Registration_

He sat down heavily at the kitchen table, staring at the letter. He knew his heart was racing, his hands shaking, but he felt an odd sort of detachment from it all.

He turned to the second sheet of parchment.

 _Dear Mister Potter,_

 _Due to your Pureblood status, you have been matched with Mister Regulus Arcturus Black, aged seventeen, heir presumptive of the House of Black. Your nuptials will take place on 17th August, 1978, 11:30am, at 12, Grimmauld Place. A Ministry official will be sent to officiate. Failure to attend will result in a sentence in Azkaban._

 _Your recent marriage to a Miss Lily Evans has been annulled._

 _Yours sincerely,_

 _Morticia Nox_

 _Head of Department of Marriage and Registration_

.oOo.

James didn't know how long he had been sitting there, head held in his hands, and letters on the table in front of him, when Lily entered the kitchen.

"Well, at least you tried," she muttered, looking at the eggs James had left in the pan. "It usually helps to take the shells off first, though. Just for–" She turned to look at him, frying pan in one hand and eggs in the other. "Are you okay?" she asked, setting them down on the counter.

James opened his mouth, but couldn't find the words to say. Instead, he just held out the letters to Lily. His hands were still noticeably shaking.

"James, what's–"

"Read it," he croaked, and watched as she did just that. He waited whilst she read the letters a second — and then a third — time, before she slowly sat down in the chair next to him.

"Well," she whispered, laying the letters out carefully on the table. "At least you know him."

"Is that all you've got to say?" he snapped, turning to glare at her.

"What do you want me to say, James?" she yelled. "That it's not fair? That I don't want my husband– except you're not, now, are you?"

"This isn't my fault, Lily!"

"And it's not mine, either!" Tears were running down her cheeks, and he thought they might be running down his own, too. "How long…" she asked softly.

"The seventeenth," he said, looking back at the letter. "That's … tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" She gave a watery laugh that scared James more than the yelling had, and sniffed loudly. "Well, I suppose you'd better pack."

"Lily–"

"You said yourself, there's nothing we can do about it," she snapped, standing from the table. "I'll make breakfast."

"But we could–" She turned to him then, red hair whipping around her shoulders and expression furious.

"James Potter, I _will not_ be your thing on the side!"

"Yeah. Yeah, I know, Lils, I just… I don't want to lose you," he said, staring at her pleadingly.

"James, do you honestly think I'm happy about this?" she asked, her voice cracking on the last word. "Just– Just go pack," she whispered. He wanted to comfort her, but he didn't know how, so he wiped his tears and left.

As soon as he'd closed the kitchen door behind him, he heard Lily start to sob.

.oOo.

James stood outside the kitchen, debating on whether or not he should go inside. It had never been like this between them — not even before they'd got together; not on his part, at least — but he couldn't live with this uncertainty much more.

"Either come in or leave," Lily snapped from inside the kitchen. "But stop hovering."

"Sorry," he muttered, pushing the door all the way open and stepping inside. Her eyes were red and swollen, and she didn't quite meet his gaze, but she gave a watery smile. "Maybe we could talk to Remus?" he asked. "His dad works at the Ministry, doesn't he?"

"In the Magical Creatures Division," she said. She dumped the eggs carelessly onto two plates, setting both down on the table a little harder than necessary. She sat down, staring at her food.

"It's worth a try," he said quietly, grabbing some cutlery from the draining board and sitting next to her. The eggs were rubbery, and a little bland, but he didn't think it was worth mentioning. "We could floo," he said, swallowing a mouthful. "And, if he doesn't know anything, maybe Sirius–"

"Black?" she asked incredulously, and he was glad to see a little colour returning to her cheeks, even if it was just from anger. "Black's not going to know anything," she snapped.

"Is this still because he cut into our first dance?" James asked.

"Do you have any idea how embarrassing it is to sit at the side while your husband is having his first dance with the best man?" she snapped, before softening her tone. "They said his brother was the heir presumptive. He'll be going through this, too." James nodded slowly.

"Then that's more incentive for him to find a way out," he said. Lily nodded, finally meeting his eyes.

"Yeah. Yeah, you're right," she said softly. She took a bite of her eggs, and pushed the plate away. "This is disgusting. Why are you eating it?"

"Cereal?" he asked, taking both plates and scraping the leftovers into the bin.

.oOo.

Lily was drumming her nails against the table, and had been doing so for the last half hour at least, but James didn't want to ask her to stop for a fifth time. He doubted she knew she'd started doing it again, anyway.

"We could try Sirius' flat now?" he asked. "He's usually back from his run by now."

"I'm sorry," Lily said, looking more angry than sorry. "We've been sat here for the last hour waiting for Sirius Black to get back from his bloody _jog_?"

"Well, if he isn't in–"

"Isn't Remus always 'round there? He might have been at the flat!" James fell silent at that, looking around guiltily. Lily huffed out a sigh, and pushed herself to her feet. "You coming?" she snapped, already in the living room.

James sighed, following her in.

Lily was already knelt in front of the fireplace, and so James grabbed a handful of floo powder. He threw it into the fire, yelling out the address to Sirius' flat, and watched as the flames turned green.

"You should talk to him," she said softly. Her hands were shaking. James took a steadying breath and nodded, leaning forwards and pushing his face into the flames.

"Hello?" he called out into Sirius' flat. "Sirius?" He waited a moment. "Remus?" he tried, but there was still no response. He concentrated, trying to hear if there was sound coming from anywhere else in the flat, but he was only met with silence. He pulled back slowly. "I don't think anyone's home," he said to Lily, still staring blankly into the flames.

"Try Remus'," she said, her voice filled with desperation. He nodded, grabbing another handful of floo powder. He called out Remus' address, and stuck his head back into the flames.

He looked around at the unfamiliar room, dominated by floral furniture.

"Hello, dear," a lady said, peering down at him through thick glasses.

"Uh… hi," James said. There was a loud screech, and two cats ran past.

"Did you need something?" she asked, sitting down on the large armchair.

"Oh, um… sorry, I think I– I think I have the wrong address," James said. He could feel his face heating up. "I should, um… sorry!" he said again. "I'll just go. I hope you have a nice day!" he added as an afterthought, right before he ended the connection.

"What happened?" Lily asked.

"Wrong number," he said, turning to face her.

"D'you think he's moved?"

"Well, unless he's remodelled the entire living room, I'd say he's probably disconnected from the floo network."

"Oh."

"What now?" James asked.

"We could try writing them a letter?" She stood, pulling James to his feet.

"Would they get it in time?" he asked, quickly losing hope.

"They might," she said. "And, when we've sent it, we can head down to the Ministry. We probably should have gone there first thing."

"How busy can it be?" James asked.

.oOo.

"Okay, how does this sound?" James asked, handing Lily the letter.

 _Padfoot (and Moony),_

 _The honeymoon's going well. A lot of shagging. There's only been one slight setback. Padfoot: I am currently engaged to your brother. Help would be appreciated._

 _Prongs_

"No," Lily said, screwing the letter into a ball and throwing it at James' head. "Start again."

"You're wasting time!" he snapped.

"Start. Again," she said. He sighed, pulled out a fresh sheet of parchment and began writing.

 _Dearest Padfoot (and Moony),_

 _The honeymoon has taken an unfortunate turn for the worse, my friends. I find myself betrothed to another, and already divorced from my dear wife._

 _We're just about to head to the Ministry, but we were hoping you (or Remus) might know of something that could help: loopholes, exceptions, anything of the sort._

 _Thanks in advance (and I'm sorry, I know this doesn't affect either of you),_

 _Prongs_

"Better?" he asked, showing her the new letter.

"It'll have to do," she said.

.oOo.

They arrived at the Ministry a little after one. Or, to be more accurate, they arrived at the area _in front_ of the Ministry. It was completely packed, people crowding around the large entrance doors and trying to force their way inside. James didn't even want to _think_ about what it was like inside.

"We should have come earlier," Lily muttered, though James could barely hear her over the crowd. "I knew we should have come earlier. Why didn't we–"

"Lily," James said, awkwardly shuffling 'round so he could face her. "We can't worry about that now."

Lily opened her mouth to reply, but someone shoved into her from behind. James grabbed her upper arms to stop her from falling.

"We should try to get closer to the front," he said, leaning close to her ear to speak. They could see Ministry Officials trying to bring about some form of order, and sections were being cordoned off. "So we can at least hear what's going on." Lily looked around; more people had filled in behind them, and it didn't look like anyone was moving anywhere particularly fast.

"How?" she asked. James thought for a moment.

"Try to look pregnant," he said. "People have to be nice to pregnant women." James dodged an elbow, and the girl behind him got hit in the face.

"James, if the bleeding teenager tells us anything, it's every man for himself."

"We're shoving?"

"We're shoving," she said with as much determination as she could muster.

.oOo.

It was nearly five when they finally made it inside. James had never seen such organised chaos before. There were roped sections, forcing people to remain in something almost resembling a queue. Ministry Officials were trying to direct people towards different queues but, for the most part, people were just going where they wanted.

A short witch with prominent dark circles under her eyes had just approached them, ushering them towards one of the shorter queues, when an amplified voice crackled out over the noise of the room.

"The Department of Marriage and Registration will be closing in one hour," a woman said. "We advise that you return tomorrow at nine am." The noise in the hall increased. "Only the first ten people in each queue should remain." Lily leant close to his ear.

"We should go," she yelled above the noise. "People are about to get very angry."

.oOo.

"Your parents' house?" Lily asked after she'd righted herself.

"Sorry," James muttered. "I'm knackered, and it wasn't as far to travel." He covered a yawn, and Lily suppressed one of her own.

"Yeah." She nodded. "I suppose you're right."

"C'mon," he said, leading her inside. "They aren't home."

.oOo.

They arrived at the Ministry at eight am, both with dark circles under their eyes. They were running out of time.

Other people had clearly had the same idea. The hall was already crowded, but at least they were sent to join a queue straight away.

"Lily?" The woman in front of them turned around. "It's lovely to see you," she said, grinning. "How was the wedding? I'm sorry I couldn't make it, but– Oh." Her face flushed a dark red, her eyes looking anywhere but at them. "Sorry," she muttered. James leant down so his mouth was pressed against Lily's ear.

"Who's she?" he whispered.

"She was in the year below us," Lily hissed. "Ravenclaw."

"I'm really sorry," the girl said. "I just– I didn't think it's affect you."

"It's fine, Lauren," Lily said. "You didn't know."

.oOo.

James glanced at his watch once more.

"Will you stop that?" Lily snapped.

"Lily, it's eleven."

"So?"

"Lily, I–" James swallowed. "Lily," he whispered. She nodded, tears in her eyes.

"I'll– I'll stay here," she whispered. "Maybe– Maybe I can find something out?"

.oOo.

James stood outside number twelve Grimmauld Place, hesitant to knock. He'd only been here twice before, and in both cases he'd been glad to leave. The house was cold and uninviting — the inhabitants only served to make it more so — and he was dreading having to live here.

The door opened before he could come to a decision, and he looked down to see the wrinkled old house-elf.

"Master Potter is late," Kreacher hissed, glaring up at him. The house-elf was clearly just as happy to see him as he was to be here.

"It's eleven twenty five," James said. The elf looked him up and down with a sneer, then turned abruptly.

"Follow Kreacher, Master Potter," he said, quickly disappearing into the house, leaving James no choice but to follow.


End file.
